Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark earned one other accolade Tuesday as Time Journal’s “Athlete of the 12 months,” and the reigning WNBA Rookie of the 12 months mirrored on the myriad narratives fashioned round her all through 2024, together with lacking out on being chosen to the U.S ladies’s Olympic basketball crew this previous summer time.
In a wide-ranging interview with Time, Clark stated she instructed now-former Fever head coach Christie Sides that not making the crew “woke a monster” and that it “will certainly encourage me my whole profession.”
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Clark additionally acknowledged the controversy that raged round her, which was much less about her on-court capability and extra about how might have drawn consideration to the already-dominant Olympic crew.
“I don’t need to be there as a result of I’m any individual that may convey consideration,” Clark instructed Time. “I really like that for the sport of girls’s basketball. However on the identical time, I need to be there as a result of they suppose I’m adequate. I don’t need to be some little individual that’s type of dragged round for individuals to cheer about and solely watch as a result of I’m sitting on the bench.”
Though she briefly commented on not being chosen on the time, the discourse prolonged effectively into the nationwide crew’s preparation for Paris, a lot of it with the identical toxicity that engulfed the Fever’s video games in opposition to the Chicago Sky within the first half of the season. Crew USA, in the meantime, proceeded to win its eighth straight Olympic gold medal.
Clark additionally addressed her choice to Unmatched, the 3-on-3 league launched by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier that can start play in January, saying this wasn’t the 12 months so as to add extra basketball to her schedule. “It’s going to be good for me to do my very own factor and have my very own house,” Clark stated. “I type of need to simply keep out of the highlight.”
The will for house is comprehensible, contemplating the huge demand for all issues Caitlin Clark. Her presence not solely led to the WNBA’s greatest viewership in twenty years however new attendance and merchandise data. Golf Channel’s dwell protection of her current mirrored that of Tiger Woods’ heyday. FC Cincinnati’s choice to for an NWSL franchise was actually buoyed by her stardom.
Talking of star energy, Clark’s play not solely introduced an entire legion of followers to the WNBA, but it surely sparked a friendship with music megastar Taylor Swift. Clark attended two of the three reveals in Indianapolis when Swift’s “Eras Tour” got here to town in November. In a observe to Clark, as detailed by Time, Swift stated “Trav (Travis Kelce) and I” plan on attending a Fever recreation and invited Clark to a Kansas Metropolis Chiefs recreation. Ought to each moments occur, the crossover would possibly break the web.
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